1. “A passive defence is deadly and does not win battles. Aggressive action is safer and more prolific of victory. Troops that have the initiative, hold the advantage. They force others to play their game.” (Lincoln C. Andrews)

2. “You need battle plans, not business plans.’ (Henry Ford)

3. “There is one thing stronger than all the armies in the world; and that is an idea whose time has come.” (Victor Hugo)

4. “Tactics is the art of using troops in battle; strategy is the art of using battles to win wars.” (Carl von Clauswitz)

5. “Strategy win victories, but only when crowned by tactical success at the end of each move or series of moves.” (John G. Burr)

Borrowed with pride from all over the place

So the Big Brother experiment is set to finally close. For years an institution – holding a mirror up to society and asking what we thought will air its final misdemeanors in 2010. Whilst it is impossible to argue that the programme was anything other than a resounding success for makers Endemol, viewing figures have been on the decline, dropping below 2 million on eviction nights for the first time in its UK history. So with the nation’s most notorious reality TV programme set to be pulled next year what (if anything) does this tell us about changes in viewing habits or media consumption?

I would argue probably very little.

For as long as I can remember the British media have loved to demonize imperfect reflections of their culture and in a fixation with Big Brother we were given a weekly opportunity to revel in exactly that. I would compare it to what will happen when our cricketers return from Australia next year after surrendering the Ashes. The recent fanfare will be quickly forgotten in a blitz of demonization and degradation. The ability to accentuate the negative in all around us is a favourite pastime of the British Media and I doubt that this will change with the passing of Big Brother. In fact, there have been recent suggestions that as viewing figures have trailed off so has press coverage in the Red-Tops. With a lack of media support, a tired format and the early adopters of the groundbreaking series moving on it’s no wonder BB has struggled.

Another reason put forward as partly accountable for the demise and of interest from a brand perspective is that the BB brand was casting a darker and darker shadow over Channel 4. Reportedly C4 felt that BB had become the equivalent of a rogue sub-brand whose worst features were polluting the vision, image and reputation of its master. This is an example of what we would call the ‘halo effect’ in reverse – rather than endorsing the quality of the Masterbrand of C4 the BB sub-brand was, through the associations with faux-celebrity and scandal, in fact doing the absolute opposite.

Watch this space for some Channel 4 post-Big Brother repositioning – although I’m not sure how they are going to pay for it because they are supposed to be skint.

As for the rest of us, I’m sure we have already found something else to watch.

Probably The Wire.

1. “Neurosis is the inability to tolerate ambiguity.” (Sigmund Freud)

2. “On the road from the City of Skepticism, I had to pass through the Valley of Ambiguity.” (Adam Smith)

3. “Take advantage of the ambiguity in the world. Look at something and think what else it might be.” (Roger von Oech)

4. “I have always felt that a woman has the right to treat the subject of her age with ambiguity until, perhaps, she passes into the realm of over ninety. Then it is better she be candid with herself and with the world.” (Helena Rubinstein)

5. “The creative person is willing to live with ambiguity. He doesn’t need problems solved immediately and can afford to wait for the right ideas.” (Abe Tannenbaum)

Borrowed with pride from all over the place.